Canada Cut Taxes on New Investment Nearly in Half: The TSX Stock I’d Buy First
Written by Daniel Da Costa at The Motley Fool Canada
It’s no secret that Canada is making a significant push to encourage businesses to invest more money in the country, and one of its latest tax proposals could create opportunities for investors in a wide range of TSX stocks.
In September, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government introduced the proposed Productivity Mega Deduction, which would allow businesses to write off the full cost of a much broader range of eligible investments in the year they’re put to use, rather than over several years.
In fact, the government estimates that the measure would reduce Canada’s marginal effective tax rate on new investment from roughly 13% to 6.4%.
And there’s a reason Ottawa wants to encourage that spending. When businesses invest in more efficient equipment, new facilities and infrastructure, they can improve productivity, expand their operations and make Canada a more attractive place to do business.
However, what’s particularly interesting is how many TSX stocks could benefit, including businesses that aren’t even making those investments themselves.
Why so many TSX stocks could benefit
For companies already spending billions to develop their operations, the benefits can be fairly direct.
Take Canadian Natural Resources, for example. It invests heavily in oil and gas assets every year, so being able to deduct more of that spending right away could improve the economics of its projects and free up cash sooner.
But there’s another side to the opportunity. When a company decides to develop a mine, expand a factory or build new infrastructure, it doesn’t do everything itself. It also needs contractors, engineers, specialized equipment and other businesses to help complete the project.
That’s where companies like Bird Construction and Stantec come in.
If these incentives encourage more businesses to move ahead with new projects, Bird could see additional demand for its construction services, while Stantec could benefit from more engineering, design and environmental work.
Plus, these businesses serve customers across several industries, giving them multiple ways to benefit from an increase in Canadian investment.
However, even with so many high-quality options to choose from, if I had to choose just one stock to buy first, it would actually be Toromont Industries (TSX: TIH).
Why I’d buy Toromont for the long haul
Toromont operates one of Canada’s largest Caterpillar dealerships, selling and renting heavy equipment to customers in construction, mining and other industries.